I watched Glen push the mower down the driveway to the sidewalk. Then I turned and followed Jackie and Judy back into the house.

As we stepped inside, Jackie snickered.

“That was so scary!” I said. “What’s so funny?”

Jackie’s eyes flashed. “I thought you liked Glen, Maggie. Did you use your evil powers on his lawn mower?” She laughed.

“Stop it!” I cried angrily. “I mean it, Jackie. Stop saying that! You know I don’t have evil powers! So stop it! It isn’t funny!”

Her eyes went wide. I could see she was surprised by how angry I got.

“Sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean it. I was only joking. Really. I was just trying to lighten up—”

“Well, don’t!” I interrupted.

She put a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll never mention it again. Promise.”

We made our way back upstairs. The window was still open, and a cold wind filled my bedroom. The curtains fluttered and flapped.

I moved to close the window, but stopped halfway across the room.

A tiny yellow feather floated in the air in front of me.

I turned. And stared at the birdcage.

Stared at Chirpy. Stared at my canary, lying so still … so still.

Dead on her side on the floor of the cage.

Chapter 10

When I got over the shock, Judy helped me wrap the poor little bird in tissue paper. I carried him out behind the garage. Jackie dug a shallow hole in the soft dirt back there. And we buried Chirpy.

We stood silently, staring down at the little grave. All three of us felt weird. Especially Judy, who loves animals so much.

Jackie kept her promise and didn’t say anything about evil powers. I think we were all thinking the same thing. When I was chasing Chirpy around the room, I shouted, “I could kill you for this.”

And a few minutes later the little canary lay stiff and dead.

But no one believed that I was really responsible. And for once, Jackie didn’t joke about it.

The afternoon sun began to set behind the trees. I shivered as the air grew colder. Fat brown leaves fell from the trees, scattering over the freshly cut lawn.

My friends and I were returning to the house when I saw Mom’s brown Taurus pull up the driveway. Jackie and Judy lingered behind, but I went running to meet the car.

“What are you three doing out here without jackets?” Mom asked. She climbed out of the car and straightened the skirt of her white nurse’s uniform. “And what happened to the front lawn? Why is it so torn up?”

“It’s a long story,” I said, sighing.

As we walked into the house, I told her about Chirpy and about Glen and his runaway lawn mower.

Mom tsk-tsked. She dropped her pocketbook onto the kitchen counter and gazed at me. “That’s so strange about Chirpy,” she said. “The bird was only a year old.”

Jackie hoisted her backpack off the floor. “Judy and I should be going. It’s getting late.”

“I have tons of homework, too,” Judy said to me. “It’s like they all piled it on today.”

“I guess the bird got overexcited, flying around your room like that,” Mom said. She tossed her coat on a kitchen stool. “Probably had a heart attack.”

She carried the teakettle to the sink and filled it with water. “Sure you girls don’t want to stay and have something hot to drink?”

“No. Thanks. We really have to go,” Jackie said.